Exploring Lesser Known Hilton Head Island Areas - Climbing A Lighthouse / Old Ruins / Historic Fort
Exploring Hilton Head Island South Carolina
Transcript
0:03
welcome everyone adame the woo here
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wearing
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an appropriate
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t-shirt
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that i purchased yesterday
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i have left
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the accommodations a resort i am staying
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and i'm still staying there this evening
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however i have ventured off property
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into hilton head
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proper
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to a residential community by the name
0:24
of leemington
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for the first stop of the day i'm
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inviting you to join me for
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a stroll around
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hilton head island
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i have never
0:35
been in this neck of the woods this area
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before
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i'm inviting you to join me
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shall you
0:42
it feels great out here probably about
0:45
50 degrees i am wearing my hoodie
0:48
however with the sun
0:50
kind of beaming on my face and not a lot
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of wind it is pleasant
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let's take a look at this lighthouse
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and start the day
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known as the hilton head rear range
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lighthouse
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back in
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1879 or 1880
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depending on
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which of those two dates probably
1:14
between that that probably a year to
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create it
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92 feet above sea level was visible from
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15 miles away and once served to guide
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shipping vessels in point royal port
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royal sound the tower was once part of a
1:30
complex
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that included a keeper
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keeper's house and a forward beacon
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very
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interesting there are a couple of
1:41
lighthouses or more
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here in hilton head and i might venture
1:45
over to another one
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i know a few things on my radar but
1:49
really
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no rhyme or reason or what i'm going to
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be covering
1:54
and this is a private neighborhood
1:56
community
1:58
and not too difficult to get into
2:00
but there are a couple of
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checkpoints you got to go through
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and you have to let them know i had to
2:06
explain in great detail
2:08
that i was going in here to look at this
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relic
2:11
of the past you can see through the
2:13
trees
2:15
so if you make this venture
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be prepared to explain yourself
2:20
on what's going on but they're very very
2:22
very nice
2:24
they let me through
2:26
look at this thing
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i'm getting some lampy
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peach dragon vibes right now also as a
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recording of this it is tuesday
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january 11 2022
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and this is the live oak
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right next to the golf course and
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next to the tower itself
2:53
there's some information right here well
2:53
it's a tower but a lighthouse
2:55
this live oak a diameter of nine feet
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the age of the tree back in surveyed
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back in 2019
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states that it's almost 450 years old
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and one of the oldest living trees
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on this island
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and that right there this brick
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embankment
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is a cistern
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a cistern was built alongside the oil
3:20
house with a collection of rain water
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to support the lighthouse's operations
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holding up to 3
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500 gallons
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of water
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a couple other brick buildings here some
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palm trees
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and more info about the hilton head rear
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range lighthouse
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here in this community
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a thing of beauty
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has the only as the island's only
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functioning lighthouse
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started by troops in 1863
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first lit in 1881
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stands between the 15th and 5th holes of
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the arthur hills golf course
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commonly referred to as the leemington
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lighthouse which is the neighborhood
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it's in put on the national register of
4:35
historic places back in 1985
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it has withstood numerous hurricanes
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storms
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and earthquakes
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what
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an earthquake around these parts back in
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1886
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there was an earthquake in south
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carolina
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on the island of hilton head
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and this withstood it
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it is brisk now that i'm under in the
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shade and that wind is kicking
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it is brisk
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there are a couple of golfers over there
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one of the holes there you can see
5:21
some gentlemen out there playing a
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round of golf this is the oil house
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and i'm very thankful always
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for these information placards that are
5:32
here
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constructed back in 1892
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stored 450 5 gallon cans of oil
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according to legend
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the lighthouse
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keeper passed away of a heart attack
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bringing oil to the tower during a
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hurricane probably the hurricane
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mentioned on the other one
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and his daughter caroline continued his
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work
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but then she
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eventually perished out of exhaustion
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she was wearing a blue dress
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and sightings of a lady wearing a blue
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dress have been reported on dark
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rainy days
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that's fascinating
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oh look at that bird up there bird just
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just kind of like flew in
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i love stories like that very very very
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fascinating
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watching that bird circling around
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looking at me bird
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are you looking for the lady in the blue
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dress
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gotta come back when it's rainy
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on a dark rainy night
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bird
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that's what it says right here
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and appears as if the weight of the top
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is a staircase that goes right up the
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middle
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to be in pretty good shape to climb to
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the top of that thing
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also don't want to forget about the live
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oak tree that's here
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that is a thing of beauty
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especially for how old it is
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all right going to continue on around
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the island
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see what i can find
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one more quick fact it was
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decommissioned
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back in 1932.
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drove a few miles into an area by the
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name of sea pines came up to another
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little
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checkpoint cost nine dollars to get into
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this development
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i've noticed there's just a lot of
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little checkpoints all over the island
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either have to go through and explain
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why you're going in there or
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in this case pay nine dollars
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but i'm heading over to some ruins and
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on the way over there
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noticing this says caution
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horses may bite
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but i believe that all the horses that
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are over there are preoccupied
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with a little chow or chowing down on
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some hay and a meal
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and not over here against the fence line
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there'll be no biting of me today
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because they are not in my
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general vicinity
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yeah there's a lot of horses like a
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little ranch stable house over there
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probably two dozen horses here on
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property
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there's three horses over there that
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they're not eating anything
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they're just on their own they're the
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loners
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those three horses over there on that
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end
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they're out there in the sun yeah stay
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in the sun horses
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it is very beautiful through here
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a canopy of tree limbs
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covering over the road
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very scenic beautiful drive
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i love it i have found the pathway into
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the woods which will lead me to
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the stoney baynard ruins
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the center of braddock's point
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plantation in the first half of the 18th
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century
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created or lived in
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by captain john
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saucy jack stoney he built a main house
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starting back in 1793
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and this is what i'm going to be looking
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for off in the woods
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now to give a general overview of hilton
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head island
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this is the island itself i am all the
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way over here on this corner end right
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stoney baynard
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home
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see if we can find these ruins up i'm
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seeing something up here
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definitely can make out the sides of the
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and there's this big piece of
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infrastructure here
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as well
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this very tall piece
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you see where the windows were
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a little more information here
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ruins compared to the possible height
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of the original house this is a good
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little detail
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first floor wall which is the big piece
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i just showed
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estimated original roof line with
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possible chimneys
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this is called tabby debris
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so you can see how big the house was
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what is left the existing ruins
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based on that
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just have to use your use your
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imagination and just picture
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people living here
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going to sleep here fixing meals here
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living their lives
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this is also on the national register of
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historic places
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it has a circa 1790
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inscription on it
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and doing a little more reading on that
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information stand
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the basement was where these windows are
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so the first floor
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did not start until
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right there
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right where you can see that line is was
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where the first floor so this was all
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the basement
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and then it went up to
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the first floor so there's not a whole
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heck of a lot
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of the walls left above the basement
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except for that one
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big chunk right there
12:43
and there's a tree limb we're not tree
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limb but a tree stump
12:48
the tree's been cut down that
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you know since this was built the tree
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grew up through the middle of it
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and it's made of a very unique substance
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you can see there
13:00
how it's not concrete obviously
13:03
you can see into the walls
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hello bird
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i don't see you but i certainly hear you
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made out of something called tabby the
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name tabby comes from a span of the
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spanish tapia
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for mud wall
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that's why it looks the way it it does
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inside the wall itself
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and there's not just these ruins
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but there appears to be
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just to the side of the homestead some
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more over here of another
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another foundation building
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there is a residential neighborhood
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right outside these woods
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that's where you're hearing all the
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activity some construction activity
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way over here
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is a kitchen chimney from another house
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that stood here
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can really get a little more up close
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and personal with what it's made out of
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there
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it almost looks like like seashells that
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are down in there
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as well to make up this chimney
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and continued on about a mile down the
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road
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a little parking area here
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at harbour town
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you can see there's a bench right there
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swinging
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a swinging seat
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in the tree limb
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harbor town this is called and there's a
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lighthouse here as well
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hello crow
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tell me where the lighthouse is
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i know it's in harbor town but i don't
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have any specific directions on
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which way to walk to find it
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you give me like a bird's eye
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perspective you don't have to fly away
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but
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when you've been up there have you seen
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the lighthouse around
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if you could just point me in the right
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direction bird
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that'd be good
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pretty sure the bird knew but just
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didn't just didn't want to share the
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info
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now i know why the bird didn't want to
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give me any hints because i was
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very very close
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i could have found it on my own
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i mean you're just just a few feet away
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i'm putting i'm putting words in the
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bird's mouth now i know but
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there appears to be someone up there i
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think he can go up in a little statue
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here eating a sandwich
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and reading a book
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it's called out to lunch the artist here
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name this out to lunch
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right there back in the 70s
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this was placed here or at least created
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they are doing quite a bit of
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construction on the exterior
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below the lighthouse
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but there was a sign that said that
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even during all the
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the maintenance and construction that it
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is open so i'm going to see what the
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admission is and try to get up to the
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top
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it is
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114 steps up to the top
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114 steps like many stories and on the
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way up there's like a little museum with
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a few information photos and whatnot on
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the side
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and once you reach
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the very tip top
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got the flag up top here
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and then you can look out over
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the water
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i am up here
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of course some of the rules here don't
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throw anything off
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and whatever you do
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it is windy
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got the harbor town here
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we just brisk up here
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very brisk
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it was just about five dollar admission
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to climb up to the top of this
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well worth it
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get up in a lighthouse
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can't go up in a white house every day
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nice breeze up here
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a very nice breeze nice and gusty
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i'll probably put this hoodie on
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put the hoodie up maybe that'll help a
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little bit
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yeah there we go
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cool up here
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there's me there's my reflection hello
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now going to venture about 12 or 13
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miles across
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to the other side of the island
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to the next spot
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i just learned that fort howell is not
19:10
off of fort howell drive i assumed it
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was
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turned down there went to a private
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neighborhood
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with another
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on staff person
19:21
who informed me that there was no
19:22
historical significant forts back in
19:25
that area
19:27
but i eventually found that it's about a
19:28
mile down another road
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and there's a little information
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right up here
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the cross streets
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for anyone looking for fort howell
19:40
is on the corner of beach city road
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and dillon road
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right on the
19:50
right near that corner
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fort howell
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named for joshua blackwood howell
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1806 to 1864.
20:03
the village just east of here had been
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established by
20:08
ormsby m mitchell in the fall of 1862
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it was deeded to the island to hilton
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head island land trust back in
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1993 to ensure its public preservation
20:22
as a historic site for current and
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future generations
20:27
to enjoy it it had a moat
20:30
look at that it had a moat that went all
20:32
the way around it or at least in the
20:34
front front moat
20:42
and it's located over here off in the
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woods
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the creator
20:56
of these art figures is mary ann
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browning ford
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got the flag over here
21:45
the 32nd
21:45
u.s infantry
21:57
camp baird in august of 1864
21:57
colonel george baird was charged with
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setting up an encampment
22:02
for his regiment
22:07
the encampment was named camp baird it
22:07
was located
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where the golf course is now
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palmetto hall near palmetto hall
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and for the namesake
22:19
of the fort
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joshua
22:22
blackwood howell
22:24
this represents him
22:26
this is a artistic representation of mr
22:29
howell
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kind of neat how they have all these
22:50
all set up through here
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this is back in here wise
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kind of curious if there's going to be
23:23
any sort of remains or foundation left
23:32
okay doesn't appear to be a lot of
23:32
foundation or structure that is left
23:34
you are here so that means i'm standing
23:38
right at where the entrance was i've
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already passed the mo ah
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that was the moat i just walked over
23:45
that bridge
23:47
that was where the moat was
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and i am now standing
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inside
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of its walls
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the exterior were featured a moat
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and wooden palisade
24:05
sharpened logs driven to the ground to
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slow
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advancing troops
24:22
that might have been a personal plane it
24:22
was a small plane
24:24
approaching the north bastion now
24:33
towards the rear
24:35
so the end of it would be facing that
24:37
way
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so it wasn't too large i'm kind of
24:41
towards the end
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so let's say the end is there
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and then the moat
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you know within eye view down that way
24:51
it was all in here
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many many many years ago
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and inside this little box here you open
25:00
it up
25:02
and they have
25:03
little pamphlets that you can take with
25:05
you
25:06
and shown down here
25:08
another place that is on the national
25:13
park national register of historic
25:15
places
25:16
place back in 2011.
25:30
this replica of the 1864 flag
25:30
was donated back in 2016.
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that's the one here on the entryway
25:37
and
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driving around a little more
25:44
found this historical marker
25:46
the william simmons house built in 1930
25:50
typical of materials and methods
25:51
constructed of those built in the south
25:53
carolina sea
25:54
islands in the mid-20th century it was
25:57
built on land bought after
25:59
1865 by williams william simmons who
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enlisted in the 21st u.s colored
26:05
infantry
26:06
as irish sherman
26:19
williams simon's granddaughter
26:19
georgiana ryan built this house in 1930
26:22
for her brother
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william dewey simmons
26:25
it illustrates everyday life and
26:26
persistence
26:28
of gula culture
26:29
in an african-american farm community
26:31
until after a bridge was built from the
26:34
mainland in 1956 and here it sits
26:38
the little house
27:00
i still have my
27:00
still have my directions on in my pocket
27:03
gotta love it when that happens
27:21
and over here is
27:21
a trailer of some sort not only the
27:24
trailer behind it but it also
27:27
an artistic painting of the trailer
27:29
it says you can't go past this point it
27:32
says site being renovated in process
27:35
do not touch anything over here this is
27:37
as far as i'm going to go but
27:39
this is reading over there says the
27:41
great dane trailer
27:43
d-a-n-e trailer rinna's house
27:56
as i get a little bit closer long as i
27:57
don't go over the
28:00
area here
28:03
in 1947 great dane
28:07
trailer exhibited here was the home of
28:10
rena
28:11
walters
28:13
founder of the gula museum of hilton
28:15
head
28:16
fire destroyed
28:18
the original home
28:20
so she utilized this to live in
28:27
in all my recollection i cannot think of
28:27
a
28:28
a community that has so many private
28:30
neighborhoods i just went to another
28:32
that i couldn't get in
28:33
want to check something out they
28:34
wouldn't let me in because i didn't live
28:36
there so just keep that in mind when
28:37
you're trying to explore
28:39
hilton head island i've now arrived at
28:41
the zion
28:43
chapel of ease the chapel
28:46
of saint luke's parish was established
28:48
in 1767
28:50
built of wood
28:51
after 1786.
28:59
the families worshiped there but in 1867
28:59
the chapel was
29:01
destroyed
29:03
and right over here
29:07
reading up a little more information
29:09
it says obviously the church is no
29:11
longer standing
29:12
however in 1846
29:16
william eddings baynard
29:18
who was in the oldest structure still
29:20
standing on hilton head right there
29:27
that's from
29:27
1846 the oldest
29:30
structure still standing
29:32
on the entire island
29:56
so you can make out any of the other
29:56
dates that are here wow look at this
29:59
1784
30:06
if i'm reading that correctly
30:06
1836
30:37
this is right off of one of the main
30:37
roads
30:39
one of the very busy intercept we're
30:41
very busy thoroughfares
30:47
just off to the side
30:47
over here
31:08
the inscription on the front says
31:08
integrity and uprightness
31:12
written across there
31:14
wme baynard
31:16
as i pull back into the area where i am
31:18
staying for the evening
31:20
right across the little boat basin there
31:23
king neptune is standing there
31:26
he's a full probably about 20 foot tall
31:30
king neptune there with his scepter
31:34
that's going to do it for today tried to
31:37
find a little bit of history
31:39
on hilton head island some non-touristy
31:41
stuff you know i went up into the
31:42
lighthouse that was a little touristy
31:44
we're trying to find a little more
31:45
historical stuff it's tough to find
31:48
because a lot of places are on private
31:50
property and in residential
31:52
neighborhoods that have
31:54
little stations out front that ask you
31:56
what you're doing
31:58
but i got pretty lucky i'd say probably
32:01
most the places except one i got into
32:04
just had to explain what i was doing but
32:07
each place i've never i don't think i've
32:08
ever been to an area or a community
32:11
quite like this before i'll see the next
32:14
video the vlog
32:16
is over